Australia’s New Capital

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 38, 7 May 1927, Page 19 (Supplement)

Australia’s New Capital

Canberra’s Art Treasures

In view of the official opening of the Federal Parliament at Canberra by the Duke cf York on Monday, the following article , written for THE SUN by IYILLIAM MOORE, of “Art in Australiais of particular interest.

1 RTISTS are wondering who will be selected by the Commonwealth Government to paint the proosed picture of the opening of the new ’arliament House, at Canberra, by

the Duke of York. It will be a big undertaking as sittings will be required from everyone taking part in the ceremony. But it takes place in the Senate Chamber, and consequently there will not be such-a large number of notabilities as there was at the first Opening of the Commonwealth Parliament, which was held in the Exhibition Building, Melbourne. No official appointment was made in connection with this function but four patriotic citizens engaged Tom Roberts to do a large painting of the historic gathering, which was presented to the King and now hangs in St. James’s Palace, London. The artist had considerable difficulty in getting in all the figures of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament, which were massed on the right side of the picture. When a reproduction was subsequently placed on view at Parliament House, one member complained that there was little more than his left ear in the painting. In spite of that the work was effective as an artistic composition; and, considering the length of time in which he was engaged on it, Mr. Roberts well deserved his fee, which was £2,000. For some years Australian painters and sculptors have been commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to carry out works of a national character. When the Royal visitors enter the King’s Hall in the new Parliament House on May 16 they will observe large medallion portraits of those closely associated with the founding of the Commonwealth. The group includes William Charles Wentworth, the first to suggest a federation of the colonies; Sir Henry Parkes, Sir George Reid, Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of the Commonwealth; Sir Frederick Holder, first Speaker of the House of Representatives; Sir Richard Baker, first President of the Senate; Sir Samuel

Griffith, first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia; and Lord Hopetoun, the first Governor-General. The medallions .were recently modelled by Paul Montford, the Victorian sculptor. Besides these, the large collection of Federal portraits painted by a number of Australian artists has been hung in the new Parliament House. It. includes portraits of the GovernorsGeneral, the Prime Ministers, Speakers and Presidents who have held office since the inception of the Commonwealth. In addition, there are portraits of Wentw’orth, the patriot;

Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist; Sturt and Mitchell, the explorers; and Kendall, the poet. So far the sum of £7,000 has been spent on these historic portraits and further additions will be continued. No arrangements have yet been made to hang the collection of paintings of Australian wild flowers by Mrs. Ellis Rowan, purchased for £5,000; the collection of drawings of Old Colonial Architecture by Hardy Wilson, bought for £3,000; and eighty original sketches of the “Landing at Gallipoli,” by H. Moore-Jones, acquired for £1,500. When the Commonwealth Governmade these purchases it had some thought for posterity. There is often a feeling that the art boom in Sydney is too good to last. But recent exhibitions show that the demand for Australian pictures is jost as great as ever. “It is the pen'artists who make the sensational sales,” said Mr. Basil Burdett, director of the Macquarie Galleries. “Collectors,” he added, “are more inclined to pay a longer price on the works of men with established reputations than risk buying the work of younger men. Still occasionally one of the latter gets a chance. His friends begin to buy up his work, and when others see the red spots on his frames they become interested. This was the case with R. Fizelle, who sold out everything at the last exhibition of the Australian Water Colour Institute. The love of speculation more than the love of art is evident in some cases, but as there are many genuinely interested in pictures the future prospects of art in Sydney are quite favourable. Some of the regular collectors have their walls well covered, but new ones are always coming on. The majority are merchants and professional men, but a Minister of the present Labour Government is now haunting the galleries.